


Archer

by Teal_The_Baker



Series: Malec One Shots (Human AUs) [21]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Established Relationship, M/M, Malec Discord Server Fic Crawl 2021, dog owner Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29929254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teal_The_Baker/pseuds/Teal_The_Baker
Summary: Human AU where Alec's usually friendly dog takes an instant dislike to Magnus, confounding both men.  Since Magnus cannot let this stand, he is willing go to great lengths to win the canine over or at least find out what his freaking problem is!
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Malec One Shots (Human AUs) [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784086
Comments: 31
Kudos: 42
Collections: Shadowhunters Fic Crawl 2021





	Archer

**Author's Note:**

> All mentions of “alpha” are only in the traditional dog / dog owner sense. There is no A/B/O element.
> 
> Thanks to [Tinerrrr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinerrrr) for the beta and summary help.

Magnus sighed from his perch straddling Alec’s thighs as he heard the deep rumble behind him.

“See?” he all but whined. “He hates me.”

“Archer doesn’t hate you,” Alec chuckled, seeming to find amusement in Magnus’ anguish.

“It’s not fair,” Magnus continued. “Chairman Meow adores you, why can’t your dog do the same for me?”

“You could try calling him by his name for a start.” Alec leaned up to get back to their make-out session but Magnus pulled away instead.

“And risk him knowing I’m talking about him?” Magnus replied, eyes going wide. “No thank you.”

“You’re paranoid,” Alec laughed, pulling Magnus into another kiss only to be stopped again when the rumble returned a bit louder than before.

Magnus huffed and leaned his forehead against Alec’s. “Still think I’m paranoid?”

Alec sat back and considered the situation for a few moments. “I have an idea.” Without further explanation, Alec lifted Magnus off of his lap and turned to place him back on the sofa. Before Magnus could protest, Alec was climbing onto Magnus’ lap and kissing along his neck and jawline. After a minute of silence from the Labrador Retriever, Alec leaned back and raised his eyebrows as if to say, “See? Problem solved.”

“What the hell though?” Magnus sulked.

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to see his alpha being dominated,” Alec offered teasingly.

Magnus smirked and slid his hands slowly up Alec’s thighs, squeezing when he reached Alec’s hips, before replying. “But maybe I want to dominate his alpha?”

The growl that filled the room emanated from Archer’s owner that time. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and do that at your place,” Alec breathed as he leaned back in to kiss his way to Magnus’ ear and take the lobe into his mouth.

“This isn’t over,” Magnus moaned, eyelids fluttering shut. “I still think your dog hates me.”

* * *

“Hey, where did these dog treats come from?” Alec called out as he moved from the living room to the ensuite bathroom in his bedroom holding a bag now only half full of bone-shaped biscuits. “I apparently need to get more because Archer loves them.”

“Are you kidding me?” Magnus asked. He threw his used makeup wipe into the trash maybe a bit more aggressively than intended. “He snubbed his nose up at me when I tried to feed him one less than an hour ago.”

Alec shrugged. “Maybe he just wasn’t in the mood? But where did they come from?”

Magnus crossed his arms over his chest, not ready to accept Alec’s flimsy excuse. “I made them,” he declared evenly.

“You made them?” Alec looked back at the biscuits in his hand and took in the uniformity in each one. They looked like they could have been made in a factory, or at least a professional bakery, they were so perfect. “Magnus, you do not need to go through so much trouble for Archer. Maybe he thinks you’re working too hard for his affection.”

“If he were a cat, that would make sense,” Magnus countered with a roll of his eyes. “But he’s a dog. He’s supposed to love anyone unconditionally and without reason.”

“And yet you tried to bribe him with homemade dog treats,” Alec pointed out.

Magnus threw his arms up in an exaggerated shrug. “I’m desperate at this point.”

Alec dropped the bag of biscuits onto the bathroom counter and moved in toward Magnus. He took a hold of Magnus’ robe and pulled him into his space until he was close enough to wrap his arms around him. “Why is this such a big deal?”

“You don’t get it,” Magnus tried to explain, allowing himself to be held close. “Chairman Meow doesn’t like anyone, but he loves you. Archer loves everyone, but he doesn’t like me. You have no idea how that makes me feel. Pets are discerning creatures. Chairman approves of you, but Archer doesn’t approve of me. It’s like he’s saying I’m not good enough for you and maybe I’m starting to believe it.”

“He’ll come around,” Alec whispered, leaning in to press a soft kiss to the side of Magnus’ mouth. “I promise.”

Alec really hoped Archer would come around soon. If he was being honest with himself, Magnus wasn’t wrong about Archer treating him differently than anyone else. Alec was grateful that Archer wasn’t being outright aggressive toward Magnus, but even the low levels of hostility were worrisome. And it was obviously taking its toll on Magnus. One of the things Alec loved about Magnus was his confidence and high self-esteem and yet, here was his own dog chipping away at that.

If only they could figure out what exactly the problem was so they could fix it.

* * *

“I don’t get it,” Alec muttered as he dropped onto his sofa and laid his head in Magnus’ lap. “There’s something up with Archer these days. He’s upset with me about something, but I have no idea what.”

“Now you know how I feel every time he looks at me,” Magnus grumbled. He did not also say that it was more than a little satisfying to know Archer took his unfriendliness out on others occasionally. “What did he do?”

“Since yesterday, he walks out of a room as soon as I walk into it,” Alec explained. “I had to use my alpha voice just to get close enough to put his leash on to go for our walk.”

By this point, Magnus’ sympathy for the situation was overriding his feelings of being justified in his own sulking from the treatment he’d received from Archer. Of course he didn’t want Archer acting out toward Alec. He began carding his fingers through Alec’s hair to try to comfort him. “Do you think there could be something wrong with his health? Should you take him to the vet?”

Alec sighed. “I don’t think so? Maybe if it continues. It’s just such a weird shift in his personality.”

Magnus hummed but did not respond further. There wasn’t much else to say. So he just sat in the silence and continued to play with Alec’s hair and massage at his scalp.

Even through his current frustration, Alec loved these moments with Magnus. He always made it so easy to just be. There was no pressure to be on or to need to do something more active. They could just exist together in the same space with some form of small, physical connection. “That feels nice,” he breathed.

“So does your hair,” Magnus replied. “It feels softer than normal. Did you start using a new product?”

“I may have used your shampoo when I showered at your place yesterday morning,” Alec confessed.

“Oh, did you now?” Magnus asked. Alec didn’t need to see Magnus’ face to clearly hear the smirk in his voice. “Even though we made sure to have a bottle of your shampoo there for you to use?”

Alec chuckled at his boyfriend’s easy teasing. “I know, but I love how yours smells and I-“

“-Wait,” Magnus interrupted, fingers halting in Alec’s hair as he had an epiphany. “You used _my_ shampoo yesterday?”

“Yes?” Alec twisted his body around so he could see Magnus’ face for any clue as to the abrupt shift in his mood. Magnus couldn’t actually be upset that he used a bit of his shampoo. Could he?

“Was that the first time you have used it?” Magnus asked.

“Yeah,” Alec frowned. “I thought you wouldn’t mind. Is it really that big of a deal?”

Magnus blinked down at Alec when he heard his response. Alec had misunderstood his questioning. But of course he would, Magnus wasn’t verbalizing any of his thoughts. “No, that’s not what I mean. I think I have an idea.” Magnus patted Alec’s shoulder to indicate he should lift his head so Magnus could get up.

“What, right now?” Alec asked, still riddled with confusion as he watched Magnus walk toward the bedroom. “What are you going to do?”

Magnus turned to face Alec, a satisfied look on his face. “Testing a theory. I’m going to go wash my hair. With _your_ normal shampoo. I’ll be right back.”

Alec sat in the middle of his apartment perplexed. Magnus was obviously on some sort of mission that he decided for whatever reason Alec did not need to be privy to.

Magnus came back, dressed in his same clothes and his make-up intact. The only difference was that his hair was no longer standing straight up with product, now slightly damp and lying limply across his head.

“Come here, Archer,” Magnus coaxed, bending down and facing Alec’s dog who had been laying down in the corner farthest from them. He almost burst at the seams with joy as Archer trotted right up to him and licked his hand.

“Whoa,” Alec commented as he witnessed the interaction, sitting up to attention the moment he saw Archer lick Magnus’ hand. Sure, he had been downplaying Archer’s lack of interest before, but now he couldn’t ignore the difference or the fact that it made him elated that his dog truly was okay with Magnus. Had it really been this simple the whole time? “Your shampoo? Really?”

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner,” Magnus replied, scratching behind Archer’s ears while the dog eagerly attempted to lick his face. “Dogs are hypersensitive to scents. I should have realized there was a smell he wasn’t liking. Now I just need to narrow down which particular one it is.”

* * *

“No,” Alec declared the minute he walked into the living room and observed the vest being draped around his dog. “Absolutely not. There is no way I am ever allowing my dog to be dressed up in outfits. That is where I draw the line.”

“His name is Archer, Darling,” Magnus purred, as Archer sat next to him, tail wagging a mile a minute. “And we both think he looks rather _fetching_.”

Alec groaned and left the room. He obviously was not going to win this battle.

* * *

As Magnus, Alec, and Archer sat and watched the most recent episode of The Great British Bakeoff together, Alec was decidedly not pouting on one end of the sofa while Magnus was laid out on the rest of it with Archer splayed out on top of him and snoring contentedly on his chest.

Alec definitely was not upset that his dog and his boyfriend seemed to be best friends now. He loved that Archer now let Magnus feed him and take him on walks and scratch his belly. What Alec was not quite ready to admit out loud though was that he may have been a bit upset that Magnus seemed to now prefer cuddling with Archer than with Alec.

After the third exaggerated sigh, Magnus finally took the bait. “Yes, Darling?”

“It’s nothing,” Alec began. “I’m obviously happy you were able to figure out what was up with Archer. And I’m happy you were able to alter the formula for your homemade shampoo enough to satisfy him but keep it almost entirely the same.”

“You’re not jealous of your own dog, are you, Alexander?” Magnus teased.

“Can you blame me?” Alec huffed. “If it weren’t for him, I’d be the one cuddled up with you right now.”

Magnus looked over to Alec while a sly smirk crept onto his face. “Is that all? If that’s what you want, all you have to do is use your alpha voice.”

“Archer,” Alec commanded, deep and stern. Archer lifted his head and turned to face his owner. “Go to your bed.” They barely noticed Archer jump down and trot off to his dog bed as they kept their eyes on each other.

Magnus pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and held onto it to try to contain the grin that was forming. He released it to ask, voice husky with the heat that quickly coiled low in his belly, “And what about me?”

“Go to _my_ bed.”


End file.
